But today, within the framework of the project "Measure the age of your heart", initiated by the Russian Cardiological Society (RSC), it is possible to even determine the age of your own heart. The first results are already known. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of the project participants are four years ahead of the passport age on average.
CORONAVIRUS AND CARDIOLOGY
Recently, a lot has been said about the impact of the pandemic on the statistics of cardiovascular diseases and mortality from them. The exact numbers are not yet known, however, according to expert estimates, mortality increased by about 10%.
There are a lot of reasons. First, the effect of the coronavirus infection itself on the cardiovascular system. Secondly, the presence of cardiac pathologies increases the risk of death in covid by 2-3 times. Thirdly, the curtailment of routine medical care during the period of a surge in the incidence of covid, when all the resources of medicine were thrown into the fight against it. And people were afraid to once again seek medical help, suffered pain, which led to an increase in mortality from heart attacks and strokes.
As a result, the number of sudden deaths from heart disease at home has increased in the world: people were afraid to go to hospitals. In addition, the period of isolation had a detrimental effect on the psychological climate and resulted in serious health problems, especially among the elderly.
According to Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, President of the Russian Cardiological Society Evgeny Shlyakhto, the detection rate of patients with heart failure during the pandemic has decreased, and the mortality rate among them has increased.
“Isolation of elderly people led to an increase in the number of patients with cerebrovascular symptoms,” says academician Shlyakhto. "Therefore, restrictive measures must be very careful, the psychological factor is very important."
EXACT NUMBERS
Even amid a pandemic, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. “But in a short time, we realized that such diseases are one of the unfavorable factors in the course and mortality of coronavirus infection. In 9 months, 1.5 million people died from the new coronavirus in the world, and 17 million from heart disease. Over 6 months in Russia, 7317 people died from COVID-19, 5825 people died from COVID-19, 39 985 Russians died from acute coronary syndrome, 2 207 197 people died from coronary heart disease,”continues Academician Shlyakhto.
Experts say that today the chances of contracting the new coronavirus in patients with vascular risks are no higher than in healthy people. But their illness is usually more severe, and the chances of dying are higher.
According to world statistics, 9 out of 10 patients with coronavirus infection have one or another concomitant disease, the most frequent of which is arterial hypertension (every second). The risk of adverse outcomes with covid in hypertensive patients is 2.5 times higher. Among the deaths from the new coronavirus, 75% had cardiovascular disease
HEART TEST
Doctors insist that during a pandemic, all people with cardiovascular disease need to continue taking the medication prescribed by their doctor. But prevention should remain a priority, and innovative approaches are helping in this today: mobile applications, digital opportunities for assessing vascular risk.
One of such projects was launched by RCO - Russians were asked to measure the age of their heart based on online testing of a number of health and lifestyle indicators. The testing was launched as part of the Pulse of Life all-Russian program for the prevention of risks of developing cardiovascular diseases. The test was created by expert cardiologists specifically in order to calculate the age of a person's heart in a few minutes, assess the health status, lifestyle and give personal recommendations, following which everyone can reduce their heart rate.
According to the head of the research laboratory of the epidemiology of non-communicable diseases of the N. N. V. A. Almazova Oksana Rotar, more than 110 thousand people from 83 regions have passed such testing.
“It turned out that many people simply do not know what risk factors accelerate the development of heart disease,” says the doctor. "The age of the heart is influenced by increased body weight, high levels of cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, physical inactivity and smoking, as well as concomitant diseases and burdened heredity."
And here are the main results of the study. The average passport age of the survey participants was 42 years, and the average estimated age of the heart was 46 years. A discrepancy with biological age of more than 3 years may indicate the presence of at least three risk factors. This tendency is especially evident in older age groups: for participants 60+, the difference with biological age is 6 years.
Heart age coincided with the passport age only in 5% of the survey participants, and was less than the passport age in 10%. For 70%, it was on average 3 years higher. With age, the difference increased to 6-7 years. In women, the age of the heart was on average 3.9 years higher, and in men - by 4.8 years.
In men, the most significant risk factors were blood pressure, obesity and smoking, in women - the level of cholesterol. A classic example: a 52-year-old survey participant - a smoker with obesity, high sugar, high blood pressure - had a heart at 70 years old, and a 43-year-old woman with good heredity and a healthy lifestyle - at 40.
Arina Petrova.
Photo: ADOBE STOCK